First Rolls-Royce exhibition opens at BMW Museum

The Rolls-Royce Motor Cars exhibition, ‘Strive for Perfection,’ officially opened on March 21, 2013 at the BMW Museum in Munich, Germany to celebrate a decade of the revival of the marque under the wings of the BMW Group. The ‘Strive for Perfection’ exhibition also celebrates the 150th birthday of the Sir Henry Royce, one of the founding fathers of Rolls-Royce Motor Cars.

The distinct exhibition promises to narrate chronologically the story of one of the leading super-luxury goods manufacturer in the world. The story starts from the meeting of the carmaker’s founding fathers Sir Henry Royce and the Honourable Charles Stewart Rolls in 1904, and continues until the present day. The first-ever Rolls-Royce Motor Cars exhibition is located in the landmark BMW Museum bowl and covers over 1,000 square meters over five floors. The exhibition includes 15 original Rolls-Royce motor cars that date from 1907 to 2012.

One of these vehicles is the world-famous Rolls-Royce 10EX, considered as one of the most significant experimental cars in the world. It was built in 1926 to showcase the performance potential of the ‘New Phantom.’ Sir Henry Royce engineered and piloted the 10EX himself. Rolls-Royce’s historic cars are complemented by elegant descriptive displays, with themes that include coach-building, craftsmanship, bespoke design, engineering and advertising.

The narrative also includes historic displays of the popular ‘Spirit of Ecstasy’ hood ornament as well as the ‘Pantheon’ radiator grille, both of which are considered as Rolls-Royce icons. The exhibition is further complemented by displays of craftsmanship from other British manufacturers of luxury goods like men’s and women’s fashion, leather goods, time pieces, shoes, silver and glass ware.